Content

It’s been a busy week in the Great White North as all 3 MLS teams have made significant moves as they move into the 2nd half of the 2016 season. Let’s take a look at some of the signings, trades and rumours swirling around.

Vancouver Whitecaps

The Whitecaps are currently tied for the second worst goals against in MLS and have a -4 goal differential. There’s only one way to properly remedy that – by bringing in Canadian reinforcements! News broke on Monday that the Whitecaps signed Canadian international defending duo David Edgar and Marcel De Jong to bolster their struggling backline.

Edgar, the 29 year old Kitchener, Ontario native, has spent the better portion of his life plying his trade in England where he signed with Newcastle United’s academy at the age of 14. He has represented Canada at all levels, winning 37 caps for the senior national team. David’s size and strength make him a strong presence at the back and his technical abilities allow him to play in a holding midfield type role as well.

Marcel De Jong is a known in MLS after playing the better part of a season with Sporting Kansas City. The fullback then went on to play for Ottawa Fury FC of NASL for a season. Before moving back to North America, De Jong spent majority of his career in the Eredivisie and in Germany helping FC Augsburg win promotion to the Bundesliga.

Toronto FC

After the recent news of Toronto FC and defender Damien Perquis mutually agreeing to part ways, TFC’s cap issues have been all but relieved. With $378,000 now available for use, rumours are swirling as to whom the Reds may add to their ranks.

Not to be outdone by Vancouver, Canadian international Tosaint Ricketts, who has reportedly been training with TFC for some time now, is certainly an option that could now be added and probably will be so long as the price is right. Ricketts has played all over Europe and would be a welcomed addition to TFC’s struggling forward position.

Just shortly after the Perquis news was made official, Canadian international Marcus Haber tweeted out that he is in Columbus, which is quite the coincidence because, so is TFC! Could it be a cryptic tweet that he is joining the Reds? Could it be that he is on the verge of joining the Crew? Could he just be visiting the city? We’ll find out soon enough.

Montreal Impact

Last Thursday, L’Impact made it official that they had acquired Italian striker Matteo Mancosu on a 1 year loan from their sister club Bologna FC who recently won promotion to Italy’s Serie A. Before joining Bologna, Mancosu spent time at Trapani Calcio of the Serie B finishing the 2014 season as top scoring striker with 26 goals, helping them gain promotion to the second flight of Italian soccer the previous season.

Tuesday afternoon, Montreal announced that they had acquired defender Amadou Dia from Sporting Kansas City for forward Cameron Porter. Porter’s time in Montreal was short but will be remembered for his historic strike to give the Impact a victory over Pachuca on their incredible run to the CONCACAF Champions League Final. After suffering an ACL tear just one game later, Porter has never fully regained his previous form.

Dia was selected by SKC in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft and has gone on to make 32 career appearances for Sporting KC at the young age of 23. Amadou retains both American and French passports and has represented the United States at the youth level.